The Rhode Island Department of Transportation has provided a list of the locations under consideration for placing toll gantries, should lawmakers approve a controversial plan to begin truck-only tolling.

Congress has another two weeks to work on finishing up a highway bill, as President Obama Friday signed a bill extending federal transportation funding through Dec. 4. It was due to expire Friday night.

An amendment would allow motor carriers that have not been rated by FMCSA to meet safety-eligibility requirements spelled out by the “Interim Hiring Standard” within the proposed long-term highway bill.

The latest proposed extension of federal highway funding includes a provision to delay a mandate for automatic-braking equipment on trains that could turn passing the measure into a game of political football.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved its version of a long-term highway bill, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform (STRR) Act of 2015 (H.R. 3763).

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has finally scheduled a hearing to mark up its version of a long-term highway funding bill for Oct. 22 – seven days before the current short-term patch authorizing spending on transportation runs out.

The Capitol Hill recess is finally over and trucking can hope that during their weeks away from Capitol Hill, every Member of Congress heard earfuls from constituents about the abysmal condition of roads and bridges in their home states and districts.

The Senate passed its massive and contentious long-term highway bill and then approved the three-month extension of federal highway funding passed earlier by the House. The $8 billion patch, which runs out on October 29, has been sent to President Obama, who is expected to sign the bill.

The House late Wednesday passed a short-term extension to keep federal highway funding going until October 29, right before members left on August recess, leaving the Senate to deal with before the looming Friday deadline.